


Aw, Book

by AvaKelly



Series: Bits and Pieces [20]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Tower, Blanket Nests, Clint likes books, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, JARVIS is a little shit, M/M, Oblivious, Tony is oblivious, and BUTTERFLIES, clint likes to take care of tony too, for a very long time, reading books, the lab, tony has ouchies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 15:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6525796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaKelly/pseuds/AvaKelly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barton keeps running around the Tower at all hours, going "Aw, book" in a consistent yet patternless manner.</p><p>It always happens in such a way that it startles Tony, causing various accidents. So far, the count is at four head-desks while under said desk, two ass falls, eight elbow hits, and five and a half finger ouchies. That last one was half Barton's fault, half DUM-E's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aw, Book

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again everyone! o/  
> Well, this weekend I have not managed to make progress on Nameless, so here is a little Ironhawk snippet to keep you warm :)  
> Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Barton keeps running around the Tower at all hours, going "Aw, book" in a consistent yet patternless manner.

Tony has been keeping an eye out.

Nothing, nothing, screwdriver, calm, silence, nothing, and then "Aw, book!"

It always happens in such a way that it startles Tony, causing various accidents. So far, the count is at four head-desks while under said desk, two ass falls, eight elbow hits, and five and a half finger ouchies. That last one was half Barton's fault, half DUM-E's.

It's high time this thing stops. Or at least Tony determines its cause so he can avoid it.

He finds blankets.

Everywhere.

Well, not everywhere, but in most rooms, especially in the lab. One behind the sofa, in the small space between it and the wall, a couple behind the potted plants in the auxiliary living room, the one where Tony likes to sit and think, and no less than four in the lab. Some of the blankets come with a pillow or three.

Tony is tempted to mount cameras around those places so that JARVIS can monitor, but it's actually more fun to stake them out himself.

He falls asleep several times in his hiding spots, then wakes up with cricks in his neck and blankets over his shoulders.

But a couple of days later, he finds one.

A book.

It's carefully tucked between the pillow and its case, under a blanket rolled up beneath another blanket. If Tony were to curl up right there, it would make the best reading nest.

Oh.

_Oh!_

He blinks at the copy of _'_ _Heuristics in engineering: a challenge or a curse?'_ that's been sitting untouched in his lab ever since he's bought it, then he opens it. Most of its pages have annotations and comments. They're surprisingly to the point, small neat script making good arguments for or against the author's discourse. Tony sits down, mindlessly pulling a corner of the blanket on top of his legs as he reads. He forgets the time, the notes getting more and more captivating with each chapter. Until… until he finishes it, and he flips it closed.

But something catches his eye, on the last page of the book, in the lower corner next to the back cover, a small scribble in pencil.

_'Aw Tonybae you forgot to eat again.'_

And Tony's breath stutters while his heart flutters in his chest.

Because of course.

_Of course._

He rushes back into the lab, and there it is, as expected, a tray with soup, sandwich, and his favorite smoothie.

How has he not noticed before?

He smiles to himself while he bites into the sandwich.

Time to leave some other books out.

"JARVIS, what's a good romance story?"

"Have we finally decided to woo agent Barton, sir? He's been taking good care of you, I was getting sad on his behalf."

Tony rolls his eyes and waves with his free hand. "Yes, yes, we're wooing. Now get on with it."

"A wonderful choice, sir. May I direct your attention to something called _smut_? All the search engines return it."

~

"Aw, book!"

Tony blushes, but that's ok, because he catches Clint blushing through the rest of day. It's so endearing, that he doesn't say anything. Not yet.

And he doesn't startle anymore. Clint's always there, keeping him company.

Soon, he'll take a deep breath, walk over to where Clint's sitting out of sight reading, and snuggle close.

Yeah.

Tony smiles, twirls his screwdriver, and hums softly.

Soon.

~

Tony looks up to see a plate next to his elbow with a couple of hard boiled eggs and cucumbers cut in slices. There's a cup of something steaming hot next to it and Tony sips that first. Oh, it's tea, but it feels refreshing.

He looks around. As usual, he hasn't heard when Clint came by to drop off the food. So Tony breathes in, listens carefully. There it is, a soft rustle of a page being turned. He's not entirely sure where Clint is right now, could be by the window behind the charging station, or by the suit racks in the back. Though it's most likely he's by the window, seeing how the bright morning sunlight is streaming through into the lab.

Tony's forgotten to sleep all night, and now the food is making him drowsy. He rubs at his eyes before making his way toward the window.

"Wanna take a nap," Tony says.

But the blanket nest is empty when Tony crawls behind the charging station. A book rests open on the sill. It's a story about a space cowboy that falls in love with his nemesis. Tony's chosen it because those two seemed so different in character and upbringing, yet they've found each in the end. It had left Tony with a bittersweet wishful feeling wrapped around his chest. Clint seems to enjoy it, seeing how he berates the characters in his notes at the edges of the pages, telling them to use their words.

Tony snorts. "You should listen to your own advice, Barton," he says.

Maybe later he can talk to Clint. This has been fun, but Tony yearns for a real hug. For now, though, he curls up on the still warm pillows, holding the book to his chest, and he's out like a light.

~

Gentle fingers run through his hair and Tony sighs, pushing his forehead against the warmth.

This is a nice dream, he doesn't want to wake up, but the light falls onto his eyelids, drawing him to awareness. He expects the feeling of the caress to dissolve with it, but it doesn't go away. Tony blinks his eyes open.

Clint is there, cross legged next to Tony in the narrow space. Tony leans his head back from where it's been resting against Clint's thigh. He's met with a small smile, its warmth swirling through Tony's chest as he inhales, only to settle in the pit of his stomach in a flutter of butterflies.

"I'm not good with words," Clint whispers.

Yeah. Tony's noticed. But Clint seems good with commentary, and Tony nods, clears his throat.

"Ok, so how about a story?" Tony rasps and Clint raises an eyebrow. "There was a guy. Normal guy. But genius," Tony lifts a hand to catch Clint's sleeve between his fingers while Clint's smile widens. "And there was this elf who kept hiding in secret nests."

Clint's hand draws Tony's attention, fingers calloused, skin scratched in places, scars here and there. He wonders how those hands will feel on him, how warm they will be while Clint will embrace him, how gentle they are even though they're deadly, even though they're strong enough to pull on that bowstring. Tony's needed a suit glove when he'd tried to...

"And?" Clint asks.

"I'm in love with you," comes out of his mouth along with the swarm of butterflies, and it's true, it's so true it makes Tony tremble.

With a gasp, Clint stills. His eyes are wide, sparkling in the midday light falling onto them from outside.

"That's not fair," Clint rasps.

"How so?" Tony asks and intertwines their fingers.

"You were supposed to tell a story."

Tony hums with a smile. "And then the elf kissed the genius," he says, "the end."

A beat, and Clint snorts with a laugh that shakes his shoulders. "I like that," he returns between chuckles.

Clint is still laughing when he presses his lips against Tony's. It's less of a kiss and more of a bumping of teeth, but it's making his heart flutter against his ribs.

A moment later, Clint slides down next to Tony, facing him, and rubs his palm on Tony's arm for a while. He watches silently, content amusement dancing on his face. Tony's captivated.

"Me, too," Clint breathes before he leans closer.

His thumb brushes Tony's cheek, his body shifting to press against Tony's, and... there's a sharp jolt in his lower abdomen. Tony recoils from it, hitting his head on the back of the charging station. He lifts his hand with an 'ow' only to have his elbow connect painfully with the casing.

Clint digs up the book from between them, right from where it's spine rests against Tony's belly.

"Aw, book."

Tony laughs, and Clint laughs, and then, finally, there's kissing. So much kissing, that Tony floats with it.

He already plans to build a bookshelf just for their books.

That's right.

 _Theirs_.

~End~


End file.
